Shaggy

And here we are. This pic is post 6 hour session. Probably about 45 mins of tracing/freehanding etc and 5 hours of tattooing. I was very worried about how knee and ditch was going to feel but overall I found it Ok. Lower leg probably swelled up for about 5 days after the session and it is definitely taking slightly longer to heal. I hobbled around walking for about 3 days after so I can recommend taking a few days off work afterwards. Overall not as bad as I was expecting. :)

This is where we are at present. Even getting close to the nipple sucked so I can't imagine what it feels like on it. My thoughts are it isn't as stark not being done as I expected as it flows with the clouds etc. Comments?

I never thought I would be posting in this thread for quite a while, however here I am. I have now committed to a full Japanese bodysuit from my artist and as such will be starting the outline on right leg this Friday. I have heard horror stories of knees and knee ditches sucking as well as legs swelling to the size of elephant legs. I have done elbows already and 1 side swelled badly and the other side nothing. I assume knees are very similar to elbows? I will be getting the outline done this Friday, I have planned to do nothing all weekend and watch TV and have taken the Monday after off work. Any other tips to make a full leg sleeve manageable? Cant wait to see my 1st leg completely done however it is bizarre I am more stressed about getting my legs done than I was about doing 3/4 sleeves. Cheers Jason.

Everyone has great points, I think the best ideas are look after yourself in the few days leading up to the session. Eat well, get plenty of sleep, have a good meal before and most importantly relax and don't stress out. Also a good artist can probably tell if you are close to dropping to the floor and help in that situation. I have had 2 experiences of coming close to going down. 1 was getting laser removal on chest and 2nd was being tattooed on chest. I sense a theme here :). Both times both artist and laser tech saw I was turning green, we stopped both times they gave me a 5 min break had a sugar hit (Jelly Beans and Cola) and I was fine to continue. Both times I had a shit nights sleep (the joys of being on call at work) and I had skipped either breakfast in 1 case and lunch the other. So as everyone has said and I can definitely confirm, get a few nights good sleep before, eat well, chill out, stay off the alcohol and drink a lot of water. My tattoo day ritual thanks to a 3-3.5hr commute each way to my artist is 1. Have a 1 or 2 pieces of fruit in car while driving to train station. 2. Maccas breakfast once I get to train station (probably the only time I eat at McDonalds, got to love the sausage & egg Mcmuffin) 3. Chocolate bar and water just before I walk in for the session. 4. Keep filling water bottle while getting tattooed. (I probably go through 2L in a 6 hour session) My experience is look after yourself for a few days before hand and all will be ok. The fact that you mentioned you knew you may have been going to pass out the 1st time and dealt with it is a good sign. Good luck on your next tattoo.

I am in the same position as you. I recently finished my back (neck to knees) and now starting on continuing onto front. So far I am 9 hours in on my right front and not loving it at all. I have already done chest plates on both side so the work is from nipples down. Definitely not loving the process but the end justifies the means. My thoughts are all tattooing sucks but if you made it through your back then you will make it through your front. :) The thing I love about tattooing is, moments after each session of tattooing has finished the majority of the pain is over. Healing sucks but at least it doesn't hurt. :) Cheers Jason.

@Cork thanks for that, I love Kian's style much to my bank balances disgust. A few days ago I committed to continuing to both ankles, so bodysuit here we come. :) As for everyone else thanks for the input, I like when the nipples are incorporated into a design and not necessarily tattooed, however at least for my RHS nipple it happens to be right in the middle of background clouds so my guess is we will be tattooing it. :( And if I do RHS then LHS will be done. On the bright side though my front will include the Munewari so at least we don't have to have another conversation about including something else sensitive. :) :)

My 2nd session on my newly started front torso piece is in 3 weeks and I have to decide if we tattoo the nipple or not. At this stage the design can go either way and my thoughts are I am going to do it. Being a Japanese themed piece mine will end up being just another background cloud. Not really a serious thread but I am curious in what everyone else would do/has done with the nipples. Please post pics. :)

Thanks Marley, I love how it looks already. What isn't seen in that pic is lower down on my thigh is a demon holding another drum for Raijin which completes the scene. As for the ouching after my 1st session of 6 hours outlining I am already over it, I knew it was going to be tough so I just need to man up and deal with it. :) I sort of hoped after doing my back the front would be a bit easier.

Unfortunately after I finished my back the itch didn't stay scratched for too long. Started this piece on Thursday. I have been shitting myself about starting the front and I wasn't disappointed, there were some seriously ouch spots. Have to keep telling myself the end result is worth it. :)

@UglyButProud Nice Dragon.

Looking good @MrToby It is always cool the closer you get to finishing how every session makes a difference.

I wouldn't shave while healing, just deal with the itching. I have recently finished a backpiece which extended to above the knees so had to have ass and thighs shaved quite a few times during the process. I don't have an apes ass and thighs but enough to be shaved every time. I drive a fair amount for my job so the sitting sucked but there was no way I wouldn't shave or use Nair etc on a healing tattoo. It might suck for a few weeks dealing with the itching but once healed you have a lifetime of great art once you get through it. I am looking to start my legs in the near future, definitely not looking forward to knee area from what everyone says and you haven't helped with this post. :) In my head the further away from the brain you get the less it should hurt. Is why I did the upper body 1st. Sounds like I really don't have any concept on how the human body works. :)

Welcome Tyson. Another fellow Aus guy here although I am at the other end of the F3. You certainly are doing the rounds of all the Sydney shops. :)

Thanks @SeeSea for the kind words. BTW love how yours turned out, so detailed and even cooler knowing it is connected to a passion of yours. Finishing a backpiece I still think is quite an achievement. I know at times I was almost going through the motion/grind of going every 2 weeks for another session with little or no perceived progress. The all of a sudden we were talking about only a handfull of sessions left then we were down to doing the last few touch ups and senjafuda. Job done. :) A long haul at times but definitely worth it x1000. It has however inspired me to continue and we have already discussed rough ideas for front and legs. Although for now I am having 6 months and the summer off. Between laser,sleeves,chest and back I have basically been going constantly for 3 years. Time for a break. :) @jacobyoung That is a very bold piece, I like it nice choice of colours.

@Graeme, Thanks mate, I am extremely happy with how it turned out. There were some horrible spots but we got through them all. I also was lucky enough to have to deal with a decent amount of areas that had laser removal. Some areas took 3 times being tattooed before Kian was happy with the colour saturation, mainly in the snakes head and upper body. I have to admit the final design that we based it on was a bit of a last minute change of ideas. I had been looking into Hanya mask designs, foo dogs and also a big ass tigers :) but then found a print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi that i loved and he was keen to do so I sort of said screw it lets do that. We changed it slightly rather than just being a direct copy. Kuniyoshi, Matsui Tamijiro fighting a giant snake Looking forward to seeing yours finished as doing a tiger based backpiece was a front runner for quite a while. I know what you mean about the front being bare. I have 2 chest panels which I was happy with till the back was finished. Now I want the front covered as well. After that legs to the ankles and we are done. Not sure what I will do once all that is done. Maybe just kick back and enjoy the awesome art. :)

Thanks @Cork and @Patrick Bateman I love how it has turned out. When I 1st went to Kian it was only for a 1/2 sleeve + chest piece. Pretty sure now it will end in a bodysuit by him. :)

No I have not died, just been extremely tardy/slack in posting updates to LST. I am finally happy to say my Backpiece is finished. We did the final session last week and it was almost a bitter/sweet session. Still trying to deal with the reality of finishing it. It has taken roughly 18 months(we started in late Feb 2014 and finished late Aug 2015) Initially not only was I booking in tattoo appointments but I was also juggling the laser removal/lightening of 3 seperate pieces on my back/thigh. There were some fun times in the early days planning enough healing days between removal and addition. :) While I am happy not to have to take days off work, travel around 6 hours and spend another week after the session healing, I will miss the sessions. I initially said my Backpiece will be my last tattoo. I then said I will take a year off from tattooing and look into more work. Even after just 1 week of being finished my back I am already developing plans and looking at ideas/designs to continue to the front. I daresay after summer I will be booking a consult to start the front. Whoever said that tattooing is addictive was 150% correct. @Cork I love that post you did of the progress of your back. I am tempted to do the same. Was great to see in 1 post the progression of your back. Cheers, Jason. - - - Updated - - - That's gold, I think he is right. I thought my back was my last piece of work but about 1 week later after finishing my back I am already looking at designs to do on my front. I had always thought I don't have the pain tolerance to do my front. I am now thinking that I got through my whole back, the front can't be much worse. :) Jason.

I agree with @marley mission and @bongsau. If you are not 100% happy with the original work the best solution is to always add and extend to the work immediately that you are not happy with. :) Sounds like a classic knee jerk reaction. As others have said take a few months and live with the art. I think it is quite ok. Just remember most people live for about 70-90 years. You don't have to decide tomorrow to get it fixed or covered. Do your own extensive research, work out what you want and make sure it is right for you. The internet is a vast resource. Use it. Sites like LST are great for opinions but don't expect users to do the research for you. It is your tattoo, own it.

I concur with @bongsau A great artist is worth the wait. I too waited around 24 months before I got a consult with the artist who is doing my work now. I had almost forgotten about contacting him and being on the wait list when I finally got the call that it is my time to come and see him. :) Worst thing was I was on holidays for about 6 weeks when he rang so had to postpone it further. :( Waiting sucks big time when you want the art now, but from my experience even a 2 year wait has been more than worth it.

Nice work. If I didn't go down the Japanese path I would have done traditional American style. I love how simple and bold it is. Eagles, Panthers, Snakes, Tigers etc etc. It doesn't get any better than that.

Nice work @a1steaks You must be happy to be finished. I swear too when my back is done I am going to hit the gym again. Crappy thing is I still am paying $9 a week for my gym membership and I haven't gone in a very very long time.

Thanks @SeeSea I am really happy with the outcome. I cant wait till the end, at this stage we are looking to finish it around June/July this year so a total of about 18 months. I had my 1st session in late Feb 2014. Although I swear I have had more specific comments on the colouring and designs on my thighs than the rest of it. Other artists at the shop as well as people at the convention seem to like the thighs. I guess at the moment most of the backpiece is red and green, at times we have joked at the shop that my snake is either a Christmas snake or a Rabbitohs supporter (Google Rabbitohs) Once more is done on the warrior it should be a bit more a bit more colourful. If not I will be starting a new thread "Dual Thigh Piece Thread" :)

Thanks @Cork and @Graeme for the compliments, I love how it is turning out. Bold and clean which is why I went to Kian in the 1st place. @Graeme as much as the tattooing sucks, the atmosphere and vibe of the shop can make up for the discomfort. :) I leave my Ipad and phone on the couch with my sessions. If I am not chatting to Kian or other artists,clients,apprentices in the shop. I am trying to zone out or just chilling out to the background music in the shop. Tattooing sucks and it hurts but if you can take your mind off it by good conversation the pain is slightly less. :)

Thanks to me not being diligent about booking new sessions, I now have a mishmash of up and coming sessions. This pic is the result of my last session on Saturday which was at the Sydney Tattoo Convention. Only a small 2 hour session but was cool chatting to different people wandering past asking about my work etc. Was also my 1st attendance at a tattoo convention/show. I got to see alot of people getting tattooed by many artists and the main thing that surprised me was how few engaged with the artist and chatted. So many had headphones on or were playing with iPads with no interaction with the artist. For me that is a big reason why I "enjoy" getting tattooed and keep going back for more. To me a big part of getting a great tattoo is connecting with your artist, chatting with him/her, chewing the fat, disagreeing with him/her and at times arguing with your artist. (Something I have done once or twice.) Not sure what all you LST's do but my job is very technical and most would class as boring. Is another reason why I enjoy my tattoo sessions, I get to connect and chat to artistic and creative people. Much more interesting than the crap I deal with at work. :) Anyway enough of my rant, here is the latest pic. Cheers Jason